Patrick Hearn

Atlanta

Writer and Editor at Freelance

Writer and editor. Words at Digital Trends, XDA, and more.

Articles

I used to love Joplin, but it just doesn’t compare to its competitors

2 weeks ago | xda-developers.com | Patrick Hearn

Joplin first launched in 2017, following Notion and several other note-taking apps. At the time, it was good. But as the years have gone by, Joplin has begun to feel a bit outdated. It doesn't stack up against its competitors the way it once did, and there's not a world where I could see myself choosing it over Notion or Obsidian. Don't get me wrong; Joplin isn't bad. It's just that everything it can do, something else does better.
Call of Duty is back with Black Ops 7, and it releases later this year

2 weeks ago | digitaltrends.com | Patrick Hearn

It’s that time of year again: at Sunday’s Xbox Games Showcase 2025, Call of Duty announced Black Ops 7, one of the most futuristic entries in the series yet. The trailer starts off with a guided tour of a cutting-edge weapons facility, presented by a talking robot that looks like it escaped the set of Chappie. And when the camera finally focuses on the face of the character, we see David Mason, the protagonist of Black Ops II.
Xbox's Steam Deck competitor is coming later this year

2 weeks ago | digitaltrends.com | Patrick Hearn

The ROG Xbox Ally and the ROG Xbox Ally X are official and are coming this holiday season. Announced at Sunday’s Xbox Games Showcase 2025, this handheld device promises the “freedom of Windows” and the “power of Xbox,” and you’ll be able to stream titles directly from the cloud as well as download select games for offline play. The ROG Xbox Ally looks a lot like if an Xbox controller had a baby with a Switch.
This customization app changed the way I work on Windows

2 weeks ago | xda-developers.com | Patrick Hearn

I love an organized desktop. There's just something about a cluttered screen that makes it harder to stay focused on the task at hand. It's like the knowledge of the clutter sits at the corner of my mind, taunting me. Or maybe I just get distracted easily. Either way, I've tried a slew of different desktop customization apps. I went with Rainmeter for a long time, but support has started to dry up and the community is less active than before.
Resident Evil 9 gets a surprise announcement at Summer Game Fest

2 weeks ago | digitaltrends.com | Patrick Hearn

The next Resident Evil is on its way, with all the bone-chilling horror you expect, and will arrive on February 27, 2026. First announced at Summer Game Fest 2025, Resident Evil Requiem puts the player in the role of Grace Ashcroft, the daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft from Resident Evil Outbreak and Resident Evil Outbreak: File #2. Working for the FBI, Grace is shown investigating a strange, unidentified disease that has so far claimed four victims.
Arc System Works and Marvel are tag-teaming a new fighting game

3 weeks ago | digitaltrends.com | Patrick Hearn

Watching Captain America and Iron Man duke it out is nothing new, but they’re not usually speaking Japanese. At Wednesday’s State of Play, Arc System Works debuted a brand-new Marvel fighting game called Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls. Arc is known for its excellent fighting entries, and this game looks to be more of the same, featuring fan-favorite characters with a distinctive anime-like flair.
Arc System Works and Marvel are tag-teaming a new fighting game

3 weeks ago | flipboard.com | Patrick Hearn

6 hours agoThe free updates will boost performance in Super Mario Wonder, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and more. As Nintendo gets ready for the launch of the Switch 2 on June 5th, it’s now rolling out updates to even more titles than it previously announced. On a series of support pages spotted by Nintendo Life, …
Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles drops on PlayStation 5 this fall

3 weeks ago | digitaltrends.com | Patrick Hearn

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles is coming to PlayStation 5 on September 30, 2025, and contains both the 1997 version of the game and a new, remastered edition. It’s available for preorder starting today. Final Fantasy Tactics is arguably one of the greatest tactical RPGs ever made, and is still a fan favorite nearly three decades after its release.
The Witcher 4 runs at 60 FPS and has ray-tracing even on the base PlayStation 5

3 weeks ago | digitaltrends.com | Patrick Hearn

At the State of Unreal 2025 event, CDProjekt Red revealed the first real look at The Witcher 4 gameplay. While it was a limited demo primarily focused on the improvements to Unreal Engine 5, we did get a solid look at how the game runs, even on a base PlayStation 5, and all the small ways tweaks and optimizations have been applied to make the game look as good as it does. And that’s the biggest takeaway from the demo: it looks really good.
4 reasons I still keep a tiny Notion space even after going all-in on Obsidian

3 weeks ago | xda-developers.com | Patrick Hearn

In my search for the perfect note-taking/organizational app, I have mostly settled on Obsidian. It's fantastic for the vast majority of what I use it for, but despite that, I still keep a small Notion space set up and active. There are several reasons, but those boil down to the simple fact that Notion handles several things better than Obsidian. While it would be a plus only to need a single application, my requirements are too varied, and no one program delivers everything I'm looking for.